The University of California suspended for a year its plan to allow undocumented students to acquire campus jobs, crushing a student-led movement more than a year in the making.
The decision all but halts an effort by UCLA law professors and student advocates to create a pathway for the estimated 4,000 undocumented UC students to earn a paycheck legally. While many students without legal immigrant protections receive state financial aid and have their tuition waived, those students are often on their own financially to cover rent, food and other necessary expenses to continue their studies. These students also are blocked from receiving federal grants, further intensifying their fiscal strain.
鈥淲e have concluded that the proposed legal pathway is not viable at this time,鈥� said Michael Drake, president of the UC, at today鈥檚 regents meeting. He said the proposal is 鈥渋nadvisable鈥� and 鈥渃arries significant risk for the institution and for those we serve.鈥�
However, 鈥渁s new information becomes available, we will evaluate that information, and if appropriate, move ahead,鈥� he said.
Regents, who make up the top governing board of the UC, voted to formally rescind a policy it adopted in May to explore implementing the hiring plan. Undocumented students in the audience screamed through tears, some who were on a hunger strike since Tuesday to pressure the UC to adopt the hiring measure.
鈥淐owards!鈥� a student yelled. 鈥淪hame,鈥� another said. 鈥淚 hope you live with this for the rest of your life,鈥� said another.
鈥淚鈥檓 deeply disappointed that the UC Regents and President Drake shirked their duties to the students they are supposed to protect and support,鈥� said Jeffry Uma帽a Mu帽oz, a UCLA undocumented student and leader at Undocumented Student-Led Network, in a statement. 鈥淲e as UC students deserve so much more from our university leadership. This is not the end of our fight for equality.鈥�
Ten regents voted in to rescind the proposal for a year and six opposed. One voter abstained.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 think of a moment where I鈥檝e been more disappointed sitting around this board table,鈥� said John P茅rez, a UC regent and member of a working group to explore the plan. He voted no.
The UC would have been the first university to adopt such a measure, said Jorge Silva, a senior spokesperson for the UC.
UC鈥檚 general counsel, Charles Robinson, and his legal team were 鈥渧ery skeptical of the legal theory,鈥� said Merhawi Tesfai, a UC regent and graduate student who votes on the board. Tesfai was also part of the working group and wanted the UC to hire undocumented students.
Drake in his comments today said that his office consulted with legal experts 鈥溾��
Tesfai said the general counsel鈥檚 office sought legal analysis from multiple outside law firms, and their conclusion was that 鈥渢his wasn鈥檛 something that they would recommend and that it wouldn鈥檛 be legally viable,鈥� Tesfai said, summarizing comments that Robinson and Drake made to him and other regents.
After today鈥檚 vote, he and a few other regents consoled the crying undocumented students in attendance at the UC San Francisco meeting space. 鈥淚t was all justified anger,鈥� he said.
Legal theory
Core to the novel legal argument of the UCLA coalition Opportunity For All is that while a 1986 federal law bars employers from hiring undocumented immigrants, the UC, as a state agency, . 鈥淯nder governing U.S. Supreme Court precedents, if a federal law does not mention the states explicitly, that federal law does not bind state government entities,鈥� the coalition鈥檚 2022 legal memo said. Nothing in that federal law 鈥渆xpressly binds or even mentions state government entities.鈥�
P茅rez said that 鈥渨e have gotten so focused on the question of what the law clearly says today that we鈥檙e losing sight of the moral imperative of what the law should be interpreted as being.鈥�
But Drake said the risks were too great. Human resources employees and legal staff 鈥渕ight be subject to criminal or civil prosecution if they knowingly participate in hiring practices deemed impermissible under federal law,鈥� he said. He said the UC 鈥渨ill be subject to civil fines, criminal penalties, or debarment from federal contracting if the university is found to be in violation of the Federal Immigration Reform and Control Act,鈥� the 1986 federal law. The billions in federal research grants could also be at risk, Drake said.
The argument to hire undocumented students has the support of some of the country鈥檚 most prominent immigration law scholars, who signed the legal memo backers of Opportunity for All published in 2022. Meanwhile, more than 500 faculty saying 鈥渨e will hire undocumented students into educational employment positions for which they are qualified once given authority to do so by the UC.鈥�
Student advocates of Opportunity For All pushed the UC Regents to take the group鈥檚 legal theory seriously. Last May, the regents voted to consider and what that process would look like. Students , but months later were furious when the UC blew past its own deadline on how to proceed at the November meeting. by crossing the stanchions separating them from the regents, shutting down the meeting. That prompted a meeting between advocates and several regents.
Those regents told the students then that they were committed to a full roll-out of the plan by this month, but they were not speaking for the full board.
鈥淚t is deeply shameful that the UC is holding them back from achieving their full potential,鈥� said Ahilan Arulanantham, a UCLA immigration law scholar and one of the architects of the legal theory arguing undocumented students can legally work at the UC.
Recent federal rules
The ability to work legally is a matter of survival for immigrants in the U.S. But while more than half a million undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. young are allowed to have jobs through the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, federal courts have halted the federal government鈥檚 ability to accept new applications. But even if the courts permit new applications, most of today鈥檚 young undocumented immigrants wouldn鈥檛 benefit. That鈥檚 because DACA applies to individuals who arrived in the U.S. and are at least 15 years old upon applying, leaving most young students today ineligible.
In 2023, were under 21 years old.
鈥淎s a leader of an American Indian nation, for us to sit here and be so concerned and keep talking about risk when the students and their families have gone through so much risk just to get here, only can strike me as patronizing,鈥� said Gregory Sarris, a UC regent.
The UC has a history of upholding legal protections for undocumented students. The university sued the Trump administration in 2017 for ending the deferred action program. That with a Supreme Court decision upholding the program in 2020. DACA lived on, but lower court decisions since then have blocked the Biden administration .
But P茅rez said the UC didn鈥檛 lead, as Drake said, but reacted to student, faculty and community advocacy to challenge the Trump administration. Roughly 17,000 Californians because of decisions by the Trump administration and the courts.
Donald Trump is likely to emerge as the Republican nominee for the Oval Office. A Trump presidency could lead to a redux in the fight between the UC and the federal government over immigration rights for the country鈥檚 young residents.
鈥淲hat happens if we have a new administration?鈥� asked Jose Hernandez, a UC regent who supported the hiring plan. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 even think this is going to be considered to be implemented, to tell you the truth, so I think we鈥檙e squandering a great opportunity.鈥�
There had already been pushback to the UC proposal from some Republicans, among them Rep. Darrell Issa of San Diego County. He shot off to Gov. Gavin Newsom warning that California couldn鈥檛 鈥減ick and choose which federal laws to follow and which to declare null and void.鈥� If the UC system did approve the policy change, he wrote, 鈥減lease inform Congress how the system intends to refund its current federal funding, as well as provide a detailed estimate of the fiscal impact to students by foregoing future federal assistance.鈥�
Work and financial aid
Abraham Cruz, 25, is a UCLA senior and undocumented. His DACA status lapsed a few years ago and he has been unable to renew it, so no employer can legally hire him.
He found a loophole, but it鈥檚 uncommon: Cruz is part of a labor cooperative where he鈥檚 his own boss. He consults clients on immigration policy, research and writing, he said.
Still, he鈥檇 rather have a campus job, where managers know to prioritize students鈥� academics over work. Or he could work with a professor and pursue research in his field of labor studies.
Drake, UC鈥檚 president, said in November that he wants to protect students from any legal consequences, but Cruz said students are already assuming the risk of working under the table or in dangerous jobs, often below minimum wage.
I don鈥檛 know what the UC thinks, but if it doesn鈥檛 offer jobs on campus students are going to have to find a way 鈥� to come up with that money,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he best thing the UC could do is provide these safe jobs for students.鈥�
P茅rez echoed that view. 鈥淲e can fool ourselves into thinking that our students aren鈥檛 working. They鈥檙e not,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e working in underground jobs subjected to inhumane and horrific conditions.鈥�
Another option for undocumented students is receiving an academic fellowship. But fellowships and scholarships are financial aid 鈥� and no student can receive aid above the state cap, which is equal to what a campus calculates is the cost of attendance. Even the most generous financial aid package from the UC still expects a student to find $8,000 to $10,000 of their own money each year to pay for tuition, housing, food and other costs. Academic fellowships and outside scholarships can鈥檛 exceed that $,8000 to $10,000 personal contribution.
And while students with income could see their financial aid decrease, most undocumented students to qualify for California鈥檚 marquee financial aid tool, the Cal Grant, which waives tuition.
鈥淚鈥檓 frustrated, I鈥檓 pissed off, I鈥檓 angry that we鈥檙e at this point,鈥� said Keith Ellis, a regent representing UC alumni. 鈥淚 feel like we鈥檝e led on the students, that we鈥檝e lied to you in some ways, and for what it鈥檚 worth, I apologize.鈥�
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